A to Z Herbarium: Ash

Woohoo! First post of the A to Z Challenge 2017. In case you can’t tell from the banner, the theme here is Magical and Medicinal Plants and Herbs. And the first entry is…

Ash

Prosperity, Protection, Sea Rituals, Health

Yggdrasil, the World Tree in Nordic lore, is an ash tree. It is associated with the god Odin, who hung himself on the tree and gained knowledge of the Futhark Runes. Similarly in Druidic lore, the ash tree symbolizes the Cosmic Axis of the universe, spanning through different realms and realities.

A traditional witch’s broom is made with an ash staff, birch twigs and willow bindings. It’s possible that ash was used as the handle because of its association with the World Tree, symbolizing a shaman’s or witch’s “flight” between worlds.

In some traditions, witches were believed to live in ash trees, such as the Germanic Askafroa (wife of the Ash), who was not very nice and tended to cause damage, but could be appeased if one made a donation to her on Ash Wednesday.

Small crosses of ash were used to keep a man from drowning at sea. A staff of ash hung over a doorpost would ward malign forces, as would ash leaves scattered in the four directions around a house. Ash leaves can also be placed under a pillow for prophetic dreams, or carried around to gain the love of that special someone.

The tree was used to cure multiple ailments, ranging from lameness and swellings in cattle, to curing children with whooping cough. For victims of a snake bite, twigs of ash were twined together in a circlet and hung around the neck. This practice apparently had something to do with the fact that snakes are supposedly afraid of ash wood and will not crawl over it (I imagine that’s due to creepy witches living inside).

In Irish lore, if an ash tree cast a shadow upon crops, then the crops would be ruined.

If you want your child to be a good singer, bury its first nail clippings under an ash tree. But not during a storm, as ash attracts lightning.

For the nerds: Gandalf’s staff was made of ash. (Though the Welsh Magician/God Gwydion did it first.)

Hi Sara – Ash is an amazing tree – fascinating lore you’ve given us … I’ve written about its use as a wood – flexible, burns fierce while it is green … thanks for this introduction to the Viking’s love of this tree … cheers Hilary

Very true. I find it really interesting to read about how some plants were used to treat certain ailments several hundred years ago that are are still used today, some with research to back up its effectiveness. It’s pretty cool. 🙂

Enjoyed reading this post and learning about the Ash tree. I was always fascinated with the many pictures I see of the Ash tree. Definitely, love that you gave the association of the Ash and its properties it has in curing ailments. Can’t wait to read more this month!

M R James has a spooky story about evil things living in an ash tree and cursing an entire family – it is entitled, simply, The Ash Tree. Of course, it was the family’s fault for condemning a poor woman to death for witchcraft in the first place.
SophieSophie’s Thoughts & Fumbles – Dragon Diaries

I think I might have to plant an Ash tree in the garden as I love all the links it has to mythology and witches, and the bonus is that snakes don’t like it. Great first post and looking forward to the rest of your month.

I wonder how people came up with some of these. Like, burying the nails under the tree? Some might have been observation plus folk logic, but I would like to know how others came to be 🙂
Great start! Happy A to Z!

I know, right? I was also wondering how burying nail clippings = good singer. Maybe someone buried the nails, you know, for fertilizer or something and, lo! Baby boy/girl grew up and had a belter of a voice! 😉